Port Brewing Hot Rocks

Hot Rocks is a season release from Port Brewing down in the San Diego area.  This beer follows an old school way of brewing in that they utilize red hot slabs of granite during the boil; a style known as Stein Bier.  This technique creates a unique caramelization that produces smokey, toffee-like caramel flavors.  It is then fermented cool with lager yeast to make a killer smooth dark lager.  Let's get to my notes:

 Appearance - Pours a very dark ruby-brown, sits black in the glass.  Opaque.  Thin brown head that fades to a nice rim of foam.

Aroma - Very malt forward; sweet caramel, fig, raisins, bready, toffee, and hints of coffee.  Not much in the way of hop aroma.  No fruity esters or diacetyl.

Flavor - Just as the aroma, the taste is all malt.  Awesome complexity with lots of dark-burnt caramel, toffee, dark pumpernickel bread, and slight touch of dark dried fruits (prunes, figs).  Slight sweetness but not overpowering or cloying, a nice touch.  I get a slight spicy noble hop flavor that just adds to the depth of the beer.  There is a touch of hop bitterness to balance the malt character, leaving you wanting to take another gulp.

Mouthfeel - A pleasant silky medium body and perfectly carbonated that keeps bringing the glass back to your lips.  Very drinkable.

Overall - A really awesome and interesting lager.  Tons of malt complexity that's not overly sweet and just enough bitterness to balance. It kind of reminds me of a bock but with a much more subdued malt intensity and has a little kick of hops.